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Monday, July 29, 2013

Review of The Unlimited Dream Company by J.G. Ballard

Looking at the spread of colors, shapes,
and lines smeared across the canvas that is J.G. Ballard’s 1979 The Unlimited Dream Company, it’s easy
to get lost in the details, the view to the whole, submerged.Superficially disorienting to say the least,
the narrative packs a bewildering visual punch while beneath the surface lurk
the powers of nature, myth, and beast—the book certainly art more than
story.Surreal only the beginning of the
description, for those uninitiated to Ballard strap yourselves in and prepare
for a ride—on erotic wings.

The
Unlimited Dream Company, if it were the work of a visual artist, would be part
of Dali, Paalen, or Ernst’s portfolio.Imagery jumbled and intense in semi-recognizable fashion, Ballard twists
the story of the protagonist Blake in neo-pagan, erotic, primeval fashion,
drawing on the leitmotifs of the eponymous poet/painter to create his picture.Either dead or alive after a plane crash in
the opening pages, the young man finds himself on the shores of the Thames in
Shepperton, an odd group of people looking on.Psychotic at best, Blake wanders the streets of the area like a mad man,
having wild sexual fantasies, tea with a priest, stating the oddest, most
unpredictable of things to strangers, and assisting the zoo keeper.Shepperton slowly converting into a dense jungle
of birds, wildlife, and flowers of all variety in the wake of his mad roaming,
the story’s focus burgeons into “inner space”.

In an interview contained at the rear of
the version I read, Ballard states that in his fiction he is “trying to find
the unconscious logic that runs below the surface [of real-life] and looking
for the hidden wiring.It’s as if there
are all these strange lights, and I’m looking for the wiring and the box.”True to his word, any attempt at
understanding The Unlimited Dream Company
on the surface is sure to fail.Rife
with symbolism, repeating and evolving metaphors, and concepts presented in
multiple-layers, the only way to approach the novel is to cast a net and draw
connections between the ideas captured.Like making associations in one’s own self-conscious, the reward is
cerebral.

Given that Ballard is aiming at this
dream-like sub-conscious—perhaps the least-definable area of existence—it is no
surprise that the ideas and concepts of The
Unlimited Dream Company can be interpreted a multitude of different
ways.There are the obvious analogies to
Blake’s ideologies of free love, fusion with nature, and the roots of
religion.But there are additionally
parallels to even more basic concepts, such as eroticism, animality, and
myth.Like all good art, the book can be
appreciated for this variety of perspectives and angles, no single approach
definitive.

A prose stylist, at all times Ballard’s
narrative is so vivid it singes the cortex.Blake’s forays in the expanding jungle of Shepperton dash vibrant and
gaudy images against the mind’s eye, slowly accumulating into grander and grander
imagery that set that little something tingling in your spine.Heightening this effect is that the novel is
written in the first person. Blake’s
direct address to the reader touches upon something personal, making the
imagery burn brighter and linger longer.Perhaps the greatest testament to Ballard’s skill is, however, his ability
to keep a repeating image fresh.Birds,
for example, are a never-ending motif of the book.At no time, however, does the reader say:
“Didn’t I read that same sentence earlier?” or “This is getting tiresome.”

My only complaint about the novel is the
title: it simply doesn’t fit.I can’t
think of anything better off the top of my head, but, “Company”—the subject word of the title, i.e. The Company of
Unlimited Dreams—has no part in the story, particularly given the organic,
animal, anything-but-technical approach the novel takes.Given the overflow of surreal visuals, “Unlimited” and “Dream” undoubtedly apply.I’m
just still trying to figure out the “Company”
part...But I am nitpicking and will
stop immediately.

In the end, The Unlimited Dream Company is fantasy only in the pedagogical
sense.Having 10x more in common with
Garcia Marquez or Rushdie than Tolkien or Dunsany, those who see the book
labeled as fantasy should take this with the biggest cube of salt they can find:
the book is anything but typical and is for certain tastes only.If “bizarre, non-sensical” writing is not
your cup of tea, then steer away.If luscious
albeit surreal imagery containing symbolism fundamental to the human condition
is something you enjoy, then by all mean have a go.After all, I found a little bit of Walt
Whitman, Philip K. Dick, Christopher Priest, and Vladimir Nabokov at work in the
novel—strange bedfellows, indeed!

1 comment:

It's been many years since I've read this but your review captures how I recall feeling about it. Couldn't believe Ballard surpassed his other great novels. Loved the literal flights of fancy and the poetic prose. Guess I need to revisit it!